What is the next step for Sam Darnold? | The herd
Sam Darnold struggled for the Vikings of Minnesota in consecutive crucial losses, including an end -of -season defeat at the Los Angeles Rams. Colin Cowherd discusses Darnold’s future in the NFL.
The Vikings of Minnesota opted against their use of their franchise label on the quarterrier Sam Darnold, Espn reported. The NFL teams had until Tuesday to decide to place a franchise label on the players.
Darnold will now be eligible for exploring the market for free agents when it opened on March 12, the official start of the new year of the NFL League. This decision does not guarantee the departure of Darnold, because the Vikings aroused interest in potentially working on a long -term contract agreement, according to reports.
There are several teams who will probably seek to add an experienced quarter-back to their lists during the free period, since the quarter-year recovery market is largely considered to be thinner than class 2024.
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The Vikings of Minnesota Vikings, Sam Darnold, seems against the Falcons of Atlanta during the second quarter to the US Bank Stadium. (Images Matt Krohn / Imagn)
The franchise tag is a lever that a team can use each off -season to keep a key player on a contract expired to leave while buying time for a more in -depth assessment of a long -term agreement. But this one -year arrangement has a high fixed price depending on the highest wages to the position of a player.
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For Darnold, it would have been between $ 35 million and $ 41 million for 2025, depending on the type of tag.
Darnold led Minnesota to an impressive 14-3 file last season, but the Vikings brass is considering several places on its list for improvements. The team’s front office used a first round choice on the quarter-Arrière JJ McCarthy in the NFL draft last year.
The quarter of the Vikings du Minnesota, Sam Darnold, stops before answering a question at a press conference after a eliminatory match against the Rams of Los Angeles on January 13, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (Photo / rick scuteri)
Darnold delivered a solid performance in his first season in the Vikings head coach offensive, Kevin O’Connell.
The Vikings were busy asking if it is worth getting on Darnold’s continuous progression in a second season under O’Connell while McCarthy obtains another to watch and learn after having spent his recruited year in reserve wounded while recovering from a torn meniscus in his right knee.
The Vikings du Minnesota quarterrier, Sam Darnold (14) and the Chief of the Vikings of Minnesota, Kevin O’Connell, and the rear CJ Ham (right) before a match against the Lions of Detroit at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on October 20, 2024. (Images Jeffrey Becker / Imagn)
Although Darnold had a regular season in small groups, his performance in the playoffs raised concerns. The Los Angeles Rams won a 27-9 victory in their post-season match with the Vikings. Darnold was dismissed nine times and launched an interception in the game.
The Vikings would be online for a compensatory draft choice in 2026 if Darnold would sign elsewhere this year.
“I had an excellent dialogue with Sam from this season until very recently, and I think that my relationship with Sam has become to the point where the level of respect is excited,” O’Connell told NFL Scouting combined in Indianapolis last week. “Sam is in a position where the NFL thinks that it can play the quarter of a high level, so it is a very good thing. And I am very proud to be part of the AID to get to this point. We will see a little where it goes from here.”
